Committee recommends banning smoking in all of Palo Alto's small parks

By Jason Green

Daily News Staff Writer

Posted:
03/21/2013 08:38:27 AM PDT

Updated:
03/21/2013 08:38:45 AM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

A man smokes while reading a newspaper at Lytton Plaza in Palo Alto on Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Palo Alto s Policy and Services Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend that the full city council pass an ordinance prohibiting smoking in any city park less than five acres in size. The ban would apply to as many as 22 of Palo Alto s 38 open space preserves and parks. (Kirstina Sangsahachart/ Daily News)

Smoking should be outlawed in all of Palo Alto's small parks to protect public health, according to some city council members.

The Policy and Services Committee voted unanimously Tuesday night to recommend that the full city council pass an ordinance prohibiting smoking in any park that is less than five acres. The ban would apply to as many as 22 of the city's 38 parks and open space reserves.

"The council is a guardian of the public health and the community," said Council Member Liz Kniss, the committee's chairwoman, "and I would see this as very appropriate."

The committee was initially scheduled to consider outlawing smoking at just three small parks: Lytton, Cogswell and Sarah Wallis. The matter was referred to the committee following "numerous" complaints from residents and businesses about a "high level of smoking activity," according to a city staff report.

However, committee members agreed that the ordinance should include all of the city's small parks.

"I cannot imagine why there would be real objection," Kniss said.

Council watchdog Herb Borock challenged the move, saying it would violate the Brown Act and that an ordinance encompassing more than half of the city's parks should be referred first to the Parks and Recreation Commission.

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But City Attorney Molly Stump said the Policy and Services Committee was within its legal rights to make a more sweeping recommendation. The public will have at least two opportunities to weigh in on the ordinance when it goes before the full city council, she added.

Russ Cohen, executive director of the Palo Alto Downtown Business and Professional Association, praised the committee's decision.

"I would congratulate you on a job well done this evening" Cohen told committee members Tuesday. "We are in full support of prohibiting smoking in the three parks originally."

The ordinance could be eventually expanded to encompass all of the city's parks and open space preserves. As part of their recommendation, committee members said the Parks and Recreation Commission should study that possibility.

The committee also agreed that no smoking "buffer zones" should be increased from 20 feet to 25 feet. The report said the change will provide consistency between an ordinance already on the books and other environmental guidelines, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.

The existing ordinance prohibits smoking in buildings that are open to the public, service locations, city pool cars, child day care facilities and eating establishments that are more than 50 percent enclosed.